Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Timing
Yesterday we were scheduled to welcome our son into the world. Jeannette's C-Section was to be at 9:30am, shortly thereafter followed up with, "It's a..."
As you can tell from my previous post, our timing expectations were not met. Our son, Jaxon Zion, came two weeks early (technically three weeks from the actual due date).
Why in the world would God do that to us?
I mean, come on, we were going that Wed to get baby stuff out of storage; there weren't even any diapers in the house. Plus we already had the date on the calendar, we were dreaming of end-of-July birthday parties.
Why would He spring this on us?
Confession time: I'm so glad Jaxon came early! Seriously, we were praying and old school crossing our fingers for him to come early.
The obnoxiousness above comes from yesterday morning, 9:30am to be exact, when I was thinking that we rarely, if ever, question God's timing when it benefits and blesses. And hey, as long as the outcome is positive then we're good with early as well. But look out if God is late or negative on delivery. We'll complain, question, accuse, and doubt if it seems that God's timetable is out of sync with ours.
And in essence that's the problem: we have a plan we expect God to approve of and execute, rather than trusting His plan and will. Instead of putting faith in God's infinite foreknowledge, we lean on what we assume to foreknow - an outlook which in reality is finite.
Holding Jaxon for the first time that afternoon on the 13th, we thanked God for His goodness, His love, His faithfulness. Even though how He timed things was a curve ball, our thankfulness was thick.
Now I just have to remember that He never changes. Those characteristics are constant even when the timing curve can't be hit; even when it seems like it hit me in the face. We may never understand His timing, but we can believe He will always be true to who He is (that belief does need a proper understanding of who He is).
May we trust His timing.
May we have faith in His constantant goodness.
-- Posted From My iPhone
As you can tell from my previous post, our timing expectations were not met. Our son, Jaxon Zion, came two weeks early (technically three weeks from the actual due date).
Why in the world would God do that to us?
I mean, come on, we were going that Wed to get baby stuff out of storage; there weren't even any diapers in the house. Plus we already had the date on the calendar, we were dreaming of end-of-July birthday parties.
Why would He spring this on us?
Confession time: I'm so glad Jaxon came early! Seriously, we were praying and old school crossing our fingers for him to come early.
The obnoxiousness above comes from yesterday morning, 9:30am to be exact, when I was thinking that we rarely, if ever, question God's timing when it benefits and blesses. And hey, as long as the outcome is positive then we're good with early as well. But look out if God is late or negative on delivery. We'll complain, question, accuse, and doubt if it seems that God's timetable is out of sync with ours.
And in essence that's the problem: we have a plan we expect God to approve of and execute, rather than trusting His plan and will. Instead of putting faith in God's infinite foreknowledge, we lean on what we assume to foreknow - an outlook which in reality is finite.
Holding Jaxon for the first time that afternoon on the 13th, we thanked God for His goodness, His love, His faithfulness. Even though how He timed things was a curve ball, our thankfulness was thick.
Now I just have to remember that He never changes. Those characteristics are constant even when the timing curve can't be hit; even when it seems like it hit me in the face. We may never understand His timing, but we can believe He will always be true to who He is (that belief does need a proper understanding of who He is).
May we trust His timing.
May we have faith in His constantant goodness.
-- Posted From My iPhone
Monday, July 13, 2009
Jaxon Zion Moss has arrived!
While on my way home from the New Life pastor's meeting today I received a text from Jeannette: "Hurry up! I think this is it!" For those who know how I drive, think about what it would have been like to be in the car with me the rest of the way home.
Jeannette had been up most of the night nauseous and in pain, so upon calling the doctor he told her to get to the hospital. When we arrived around 12:45pm they put Jeannette into an evaluation room. About 10 minutes later her water broke, pretty much making the answer definitive as to whether we were delivering today or not.
Because Baylee was delivered Cesarean the new little one would also be. For everyone amazed at how quickly the baby came, that's the secret.
They brought me into the delivery/operating room around 2:25p. There was a blue cloth hung up about 3 feet high in front of Jeannette's chin so that we couldn't see the anatomy class lab going on around the other side. When I sat down next to Jeannette the first thing she said was, "I feel like I'm on House."
I was holding Jeannette's hand and kept looking back and forth between her and the empty bassinet off to the side. The nurse asked if I was OK, that I looked a little frazzled and was I going to pass out. "No, I'm not going to pass out - I've just been waiting 9 months to find out what the sex of this baby is!"
And at 2:31pm we found out. We heard from the other side of the blue wall, "Oh guys...it's a boy!"
I burst into tears and repeated the words to Jeannette, "IT'S A BOY!"
Very proud and thankful to say that MY SON, Jaxon Zion Moss, was born today at 2:31pm at Christ Hospital. He was 7lbs, 14oz & was 20 1/2 inches long. To say we are excited, happy, thankful, and in awe would each be complete understatements!
To answer the FAQ's:
Jeannette had been up most of the night nauseous and in pain, so upon calling the doctor he told her to get to the hospital. When we arrived around 12:45pm they put Jeannette into an evaluation room. About 10 minutes later her water broke, pretty much making the answer definitive as to whether we were delivering today or not.
Because Baylee was delivered Cesarean the new little one would also be. For everyone amazed at how quickly the baby came, that's the secret.
They brought me into the delivery/operating room around 2:25p. There was a blue cloth hung up about 3 feet high in front of Jeannette's chin so that we couldn't see the anatomy class lab going on around the other side. When I sat down next to Jeannette the first thing she said was, "I feel like I'm on House."
I was holding Jeannette's hand and kept looking back and forth between her and the empty bassinet off to the side. The nurse asked if I was OK, that I looked a little frazzled and was I going to pass out. "No, I'm not going to pass out - I've just been waiting 9 months to find out what the sex of this baby is!"
And at 2:31pm we found out. We heard from the other side of the blue wall, "Oh guys...it's a boy!"
I burst into tears and repeated the words to Jeannette, "IT'S A BOY!"
Very proud and thankful to say that MY SON, Jaxon Zion Moss, was born today at 2:31pm at Christ Hospital. He was 7lbs, 14oz & was 20 1/2 inches long. To say we are excited, happy, thankful, and in awe would each be complete understatements!
To answer the FAQ's:
- Mom & little man are both doing good, resting after the ordeal of receiving the gift of life.
- Jaxon was chosen because we wanted a "J" name like his mom's. We chose the spelling because we wanted it to be unique.
- His name is in NO way a tribute to Michael Jackson. We've had the name chosen for about 2-3 months. We like the King of Pop's music, but not that much.
- Zion was chosen to coincide with his sister Baylee's middle name, Eden. Her name highlights the beginning of the gospel story and his name highlights the end.
- Baylee is very excited to be a big sister. When I held her up to the glass of the nursery and said, "That's your little brother," she got a huge smile on her face. After a few moments of looking at him she looked back at me and said, "We need to take him home."
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Interesting Comments/Video on Health Care
Adam Kellog, friend of mine from college, wrote some good comments about the current health care system issue and highlighted an interview and article about Wendell Potter, former Head of Corporate Communications at CIGNA (some global health care company). Interesting words.
Here's the link to Adam's blog entry if you want to read it: CLICK
Here's the link to the article about Wendell Potter: CLICK
And here is a video of Mr. Potter (no relation to Harry) being interviewed:
I'd have to echo's some of Adam's words. I'm not a socialist, but I do think a National Healthcare System makes sense. It makes more sense then lining Wall Street's pockets. I remember watching Sick-o and thinking that maybe moving to Canda wouldn't be such a bad thing. I mean, I do like hockey, so maybe I'd fit in. But alas, it will take more than a losey healthcare system to pull me away from Chi-Town. At least for now. :)~
Here's the link to Adam's blog entry if you want to read it: CLICK
Here's the link to the article about Wendell Potter: CLICK
And here is a video of Mr. Potter (no relation to Harry) being interviewed:
I'd have to echo's some of Adam's words. I'm not a socialist, but I do think a National Healthcare System makes sense. It makes more sense then lining Wall Street's pockets. I remember watching Sick-o and thinking that maybe moving to Canda wouldn't be such a bad thing. I mean, I do like hockey, so maybe I'd fit in. But alas, it will take more than a losey healthcare system to pull me away from Chi-Town. At least for now. :)~
Thursday, July 09, 2009
The Curse is worse than just having to work - Pt1
Work itself doesn't seem like much of a curse to me. Most people I know like their jobs and really don't mind working. Some would comment that they'd give anything to not have to work and simply bang on a drum all day. We usually roll our eyes and call such people lazy (all the while resonating with them at various levels).
But God gave Adam work to do BEFORE the fall: he was told to rule over the creation in Genesis 1. God is OK with us working. The reason why Adam' curse is so cursed comes in how hard it will be to work & provide:
"Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." Genesis 3:17-19
Providing food for the family wouldn't be easy, now He would have to sweat for it. Now he would have to take the time and the effort required to grow and gather the food.
The implications of this time & effort go even farther.
Yesterday my wife, Jeannette, said to me as I was leaving, "I wish you didn't have to go today."
Every morning before I leave I get hugs and kisses from my 2 1/2yr old daughter, Baylee. All the while she says with pouty lip, "Won't you stay with me today?" Normally she cries after this, daily breaking my heart.
And that is why the work element of the curse is so cursed to me: I'd rather be with them. Shoot, I'd even work with them if I could. But I can't, I have to walk out the door with the tears behind me, knowing I can't participate in what they'll be doing today.
The curse is horrible because of how it puts strain on the relationships that are most important.
But God gave Adam work to do BEFORE the fall: he was told to rule over the creation in Genesis 1. God is OK with us working. The reason why Adam' curse is so cursed comes in how hard it will be to work & provide:
"Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." Genesis 3:17-19
Providing food for the family wouldn't be easy, now He would have to sweat for it. Now he would have to take the time and the effort required to grow and gather the food.
The implications of this time & effort go even farther.
Yesterday my wife, Jeannette, said to me as I was leaving, "I wish you didn't have to go today."
Every morning before I leave I get hugs and kisses from my 2 1/2yr old daughter, Baylee. All the while she says with pouty lip, "Won't you stay with me today?" Normally she cries after this, daily breaking my heart.
And that is why the work element of the curse is so cursed to me: I'd rather be with them. Shoot, I'd even work with them if I could. But I can't, I have to walk out the door with the tears behind me, knowing I can't participate in what they'll be doing today.
The curse is horrible because of how it puts strain on the relationships that are most important.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Paris
This is the part that got me above all else from the memorial service for Michael Jackson. Her tears should put all of the criticism and the praise into perspective. Everything else is trivial when compared to this clip, and there isn't a lot that is more important than the fact that a little girl lost her daddy:
So right now I pray for Paris, and for her sister & brother - that God would give them some type of peace.
So right now I pray for Paris, and for her sister & brother - that God would give them some type of peace.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Crazy Love for Free!
The 20's group that I lead at New Like Oak Forest just finished reading together the book Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. It is a a great book about what it means and looks like to be madly in love with God. It's a great book that I highly recommend you check out. Here's the book's website: Crazy Love.
The cool thing is that you can get it for free! Apparently the website ChristianAudio.com offers a free download each month, and this month it is Crazy Love!
It's completely legit. All you have to do is create an account to get the download. No strings attached, except probably an email from them a month.
CLICK HERE to go to the sign-up/download page. Make sure you use the indicated coupon code to get the book for free!
The cool thing is that you can get it for free! Apparently the website ChristianAudio.com offers a free download each month, and this month it is Crazy Love!
It's completely legit. All you have to do is create an account to get the download. No strings attached, except probably an email from them a month.
CLICK HERE to go to the sign-up/download page. Make sure you use the indicated coupon code to get the book for free!
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